August
is, of course, James' birthday and like last year for
his birthday treat he asked to go to the Bucks
Goat Centre with three of his friends (and Matthew
of course). Since it was a Saturday we all went together
and had a great time hugging goats and other small furry
animals. The picnic lunch worked out very well, probably
better than using their restaurant which we did last
year. It also means the children are never far from
the play area and trampoline, so there's plenty of entertainment.
Both
James and Matthew like setting us challenges when it
comes to their birthday cakes. This year James' idea
was for a woodland scene with woodland animals. So like
mugs we duly responded, and here is the result. The
tree trunks are Cadbury's Flakes, and the leaves and
greenery are made from fondant icing with a mixture
of food colours to get a dark green. We'd like to claim
originality, but actually spotted a design in a book
and copied it. Now for Matthew's polar bear in October....
Two
years ago Malcolm took James to York for an overnight
trip, and this time it was Matthew's turn. We both thoroughly
enjoyed the Jorvik
Centre (left) and the National
Railway Museum (right), but Matthew probably enjoyed
walking on the walls most of all. He was very excited
about being higher than all the traffic and looking
down on the tour buses.
James,
Matthew and Bridget stayed with Grandma and Grandad
in Ipswich for a few days during the holiday. This
was another opportunity for a zoo visit, this time
to Colchester
Zoo.
Colchester
has good success recently breeding elephants, and
there was another baby (born this year) greeting visitors.
James managed to track down the goats for a nice hug,
and was especially excited to find them running around
freely (unlike at the Bucks Goat Centre).
Both
boys took an active role in animal feeding, and thrust
food at both elephants and giraffes (narrowly avoiding
getting fingers nipped). Matthew was surprised both
by the length and colour of the giraffe's tongue (it's
dark purple).
Favourite
animal of the day - probably the wide collection of
primates (tamarind, gibbons etc). But the feeding
came a very close second.
We
took our main holiday in August, and this year headed
north to Scotland. After staying a few days with Alan
and Sheila in Burntisland, we went further north to
Aberfeldy where we stayed in a lovely first
floor apartment. En route we stopped at the Falkirk
Wheel, a Millennium project that reconnects the
Union and Forth and Clyde Canals. We went on a boat
trip that takes you up 115 feet to the higher canal,
through a tunnel under the Antonine
Wall to a turning circle, and back down again. Fascinating
trip, magnificent engineering, and some wonderful weather
to cap it all.
Back
in England we stopped at Noel (Bridget's cousin) and
Louise's house for a great two days, and then dropped
in on Michael and Janet (Michael is Matthew's Godfather)
in Yorkshire.
